After a large coffee at the Dunkin' Donuts on the corner of Boulevard and Main in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, I was ready for anything. When the Tesla Roadster (cue the archangels) pulled into the DD parking lot, though, I could barely contain myself. The car's presence was immediately felt. The other drivers on the road hit the breaks, turning their heads in awe.
Apart from being behind the wheel of a Roadster with 1.5 drivetrain, this was not going to be your ordinary test drive. The night before temperatures dipped down into the low 30s, flurries were in the air, and maple leaves covered the neighborhood roads.
The conditions were perfect!
We all know the Roadster can handle everyday road courses and the picturesque highways of Northern California; we have seen the photos and videos in addition to having read the stories. I wanted know how the Roadster would handle in "the real world." So, I jumped on the opportunity to test drive it in the city---Jersey City, better yet, the hussy of all highways, The Jersey Turnpike.
How did it fare? Just ask the dusted Grannie in the Buick LeSabre that cut me off before the on-ramp.
To clarify: The rumors are true. The Roadster can move.
From a distance the car looks a lot like a Lotus Elise (especially from behind) but up close and in person the difference in the two cars is clear. The Roadster is longer, skinnier and appears to be closer to the ground. In placing the two cars side by side one might say they look more like cousins rather than siblings. Only 7 percent of the Roadster's chassis components though designed by Lotus, are made of similar components to that of the Elise. Moreover, the Roadster's outer skin unlike the Elise is made entirely of carbon fiber.
Behind the wheel the Roadster's light weight, as a result of the carbon fiber, is extremely noticeable. Slam down on the throttle and the car pitches hard onto its back tires. Almost all of the car's weight is in the battery
pack and PEM 185 firmware system located behind the driver seat. As speed increases, the surroundings begin to fly by in an eerie silence do to the car's lack of a noise coming from a combustion engine. Even at 70 mph the car makes no more sound than an electric golf cart climbing a hill.
Off the highway things are a different story for the Roadster. The regenerative braking system though effective and efficient takes sometime to get used to. This feature is meant to generate energy from the car's movement as it slows down by way of a reverse dynamo. The brake pedal as a result becomes obsolete unless coming to a complete stop. Moreover, manual steering and the slightest pot hole, on account of the cars light weight, make controlling the Roadster difficult at times.
Again anyone could easily become accustomed to all these differences with time. One might even understandably begin to curse the engine noise and exhaust fumes of their Saleen or C5 after regular usage of the Roadster. This would explain Tesla's growing success having now delivered over 70 Roadsters to date including one to Governor Schwarzenegger and The Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer, Anthony Kiedis. The company is also currently in the process of retrofitting Roadsters it had previously delivered with the new 1.5 drivetrain. Customers are now allowed to bring in their Roadster at their convenience to their local Tesla service stations so that the old drivetrains can be replaced for free.
